WORLD CUP

A trophy made of gold-plated sterling silver on a white-yellow marble base was manufactured following the design of French sculptor, Abel Lafleur. It depicted Nike, the Greek Goddess of victory holding a cup. This came to be known as the ‘World Cup’ and later nicknamed ‘the Golden Goddess’. The first Football …

Edvaldo Isidio Neto, better known to the world as Vava, has a unique record set against his name. Among the four players who have scored in two FIFA World Cup finals, Vava is the only one who has managed it in successive editions. The dynamic Brazilian scored twice in the …

The 1958 World Cup belonged to the Brazilian great Pele. But there was another man; a lesser-known Frenchman who created history. Just Fontaine set a record for the most goals in a World Cup that still remains untouched. Only Miroslav Klose, Ronaldo and Gerd Muller have scored more goals than …

There could be no other more important event in the 1958 World Cup rather than Pele’s mercurial performance at the age of 17. As Brazil lifted the World trophy, a new era of Football started; it was the day when the story of Pele and Brazil began. Brazil had been …

A legendary Hungarian Football team was formed in the 1950s comprising the greats like Ferenc Puskas, Sandor Kocsis, Nandor Hidegkuti, Zoltan Czibor, Gyula Grosics and Jozsef Bozsik. The team that successfully implemented the ‘Sebes Method’, the concept of ‘Total Football’ that was later adopted by the Dutch, went into the …

It was Maracanazo on 16th July 1950 at Maracana when Brazil was handed a sombre loss by Uruguay in the final of the World Cup. It was regarded as a ‘National Disaster’ in Brazil often compared to the bombing of Hiroshima. The Maracanazo impacted on the country’s self-esteem and effectively …

The World Cup moved from Italy to its neighbour France in 1938. Four of the globe’s continents had participated in the tournament in 1934. It was left for Asia and Oceania to be a part of the Football extravaganza.  The team that brought the world’s largest continent into the World …

The stream of Italian immigration to Argentina started in 1880s and became quite a phenomena till 1920s. During this period of Great European Immigration, around 3 million people settled in South American countries among which Argentina was prominent. In 1914, the city of Buenos Aires alone had more than 300,000 …

When Guillermo Stabile struck the ball into the bottom left corner of the post to give Argentina 2-1 lead in the final of 1930 World Cup, he etched his name in Football history forever. Stabile’s goal in the first half of the match earned him the Golden Boot making him …

In 1929, it was decided that the first Football World Cup would take place in Uruguay from 13th– 30th July 1930. The South American nation was handed over the responsibility due to their Olympic success in the 1920s. They were the clear favourite to win the tournament. The European nations …